Harley-Davidson, Inc. (HOG) Due For A Rally Says Barron’s, But Do Hedge Funds Agree?

Hedge fund activity in Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 27 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long in this stock, a 36% slide from the previous quarter. The total value of their holdings also decreased to $1.15 billion by the end of the first quarter, down 12.77% from the $1.32 billion it stood at as of the end of the prior quarter, even though the stock only depreciated by 7.84% from January 2 to March 31.

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Cantillon Capital Management, managed by William von Mueffling, holds the most valuable position in Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG). Cantillon Capital Management has a $380.2 million position of 6.26 million shares, comprising 7.4% of its 13F portfolio. The second-largest stake is held by Select Equity Group, led by Robert Joseph Caruso, holding a $239.6 million position of 3.94 million shares; 2.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions contain Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management.

Seeing as Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) has faced a decline in interest from hedge fund managers, we can see that there exists a select few funds that elected to cut their full holdings by the end of the first quarter. Interestingly, Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies said goodbye to the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds watched by Insider Monkey, 377,193 shares totaling close to $24.9 million. Daniel Lascano’s fund, Lomas Capital Management, also cut its position of 281,200 shares worth about $18.5 million.

With the decline of enthusiasm from hedge funds, those long on Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) may need to reassess their position. However, with it’s slide during the second quarter making it cheaper and the strong optimism among analysts, it will interesting to see what the smart money did in the stock during that period. For now, we don’t recommend buying it.

Disclosure: None